John s



. (Nomodel.)

J.' S. P'URDY, 'Founmtain Pen. No. 237,045. Patented Jan. 25,1881.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCE@ JOHN S. PURDY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

FOUNTAIN-PEN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 237,045, dated January 25, 1881.

Application led April 19, 1880.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, J oHN S. PURDY, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in Fountain-Pens, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of pens which are provided with-a hollow holder or inlr-reservoir,from which the ink is automatically caused to flow to the pen during the operation of writing.

The invention consists in a novel combination, with `the pen and holder, of aloaded vibrating tongue, placed within the holder and in such relation with the passage or passages leading to the pen that the jarring or vibration of4 the said tongue will agitate the ink to cause the same to pass readily to the pen, and also t0 cause any air that may be present in the adjacent part of the holder to pass away therefrom, thereby preventing bubbles in the ink at the locality where the latter passes to the pen.

The invention also comprises a hollow handle or ink-reservoir constructed with a longitudinal external groove for the reception of a detachable piston-rod, in combination with holding rings or lips for confining the ends of said rod when placed in said groove, the object of this feature of the invention being to provide a means for operating the pistonhead, by means of which the ink is drawn or pumped into the hollow holder or reservoir in the operation of filling the same.

-The invention 'also comprises a novel construction of the piston-head aforesaid, with the object of avoidingthe necessity for accurate fnishof the interior of the hollow handle or reservoir, which accurate finish has hitherto been found' necessary to the operation of properly supplying or filling the said holder or reservoir with ink.V

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a fountain-pen embracing my said invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view, showing the position of the parts in the operation of lling the pen. Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view of the same and Figs. L and 5 are detail views, on a still larger scale, the one-a section and the other a side lview,

(No model.)

showing the construction of the piston-head, which forms a portion of the invention.

A is the hollow holder or ink-reservoir, of the usual tubular form, except that, as hereinafter explained, the interior need not receive that accurate finish, smooth surface, and true cylindric form which hitherto has been absolutely necessary in the construction of such devices. Into the lower end of this holder is screwed the pen-holding clamp B, the pen a, being held between the lower lip, b, and the upper lip, f. This clamp, when screwed in place, forms part of the holder and serves to close the lower end thereof, except through the passages hereinafter described. The passage c extends from the interior of the holder A to the extreme outer end of the upper lip, f, so that ink from the interior of the holder A may pass to the upper side of the pen, near the point thereof, and thence down through the slit of the pen, in the usual manner, to feed the same.

It will be observed that the passage c starts from the upper side of the holder A. Another passage, c, starts from the under side, and, converging toward the upper passage,c, unites therewith, as shown in the sectional view, Fig. 1.

- When, for any reason, ink fails to pass through the innermost part of the passage c, the outermost end of said passage will neverthelessbe supplied from the passage e, and in like manner, should anything occur to clog, even temporarily, the l ower passage, e, the supply of ink to the pen will still be insured through the upper passage, c, it being, as a matter of practice, extremely improbable that both passages will be clogged at one and the .same time.

Fitted to the innermost end of the holdingcla-mp B is a thin metallic tongue or reed, G, which extends inward centrally into the adjacent portion of the hollow holder or reservoir A, and which has its innermost extremity loaded-as, forexam ple, by a sm all attached weight, n.

When desired, the vibrating tongue G may be fitted into the inner end of the clamp B. It is preferred, however, that it be formed in one piece with pens a, and thrust through a IOO suitable opening provided in the clamp. In this case passage e, where the tongue() intersects the saine, is widened laterally, so that the ink passing through said passage e may flow along the edges of the tongue C as it flows toward the other passage, c. This last-mentioned constructionthat is to say, the tongue C and the pen a formed in one piece-is much preferred, both because of its simplicity and because the tongue U is much more securely alixed in place, and less liable to get out of order when attached direct to the inner end of the clamp B, as represented in Fig. 1. This tongue or reed C is of such a degree of thin- IleSs that it will tremble or vibrate with the motion given to the pen in writing, this vibrating or tremulous movement of said tongue or reed being materially promoted by the weight n at its free or inner end. The aforesaid tremulous movement of the reed, by continually disturbing the ink in the adjacent or lower portion of the holder or reservoir, greatly promotes the ilow of ink to the pen through the passages aforesaid, thereby very materially aiding to prevent the clogging of said passages, and, furthermore, the movement communicated to theink within thc said lower portion of the holder or reservoir tends to dislodgeany globules ofair which otherwise might become fixed or retained in the said part of the holder or reservoir, and, to a certain extent, interfere with the uniform flow of the ink to the pen when the latter is in operation.

D is the piston-head, which, by its longitudinal position within the holder or reservoir A, enables the ink to be pumped into the latter, to fill the same when required. Thepistonhead D is constructed as follows: A central stem, s, has a circumferential ange, f, at its outer end, and tapers to a diminished diameter toward its inner end, as represented in Fig. 4. On this stem s is placed a sliding block, u', which is capable of a slight longitudinal movement upon the stem s, and which has midway of its length a circumferential flange, g. Placed around the said sliding block u', between the flange g thereof and the flange f' of the stem s, is placed an annulus or ring, h, of india-rubber or equivalent elastic material. The arrangement ot' the parts is such that when the piston is pushed inward within the hollow holder or ink-reservoir A the sliding block u will slide backward upon the stem s, and thereby, relieving the india-rubber annulus hfrom end-pressure, permits the latter to sh rink in diameter, so that the piston`-head may be forced down or inward within the hollow holder A with very great ease and facility, and with little or no friction against the sides thereof; and when the movement of the head D is reversed the comparative compression of the air between the shoulder formed by the inner end of the tubular cap m and the flange g forces the sliding block u' forward or outward upon the stem s, thereby compressing theindiarubber annulus h endwise between the lianges g' f', thereby bulging or swelling thelatter circumferen tially, so that itpresses snugly against the internal surface of the tubular holder, but without any inordinate pressure or any considerable friction, it being understood that the orifice in the screw-cap m, through which the pistonrod w is passed, is so proportioned that while permitting the easy longitudinal movement of the piston-rod the space or windage is not suiicient to permit the air to escape so readily but that a back-pressure or compression of the airis caused by the outward movement of the piston-head. By this means the necessity of accurately boring out or finishing the interior of the tubular holder A is dispensed with, and a very considerable reduction in the cost of making the article is secured, as well as a much greater immunity from disarrangement of its parts, than is obtained with the tubular holders of fountain-pens hitherto 1n use.

Formed externally in the under side of the holder or reservoir is a longitudinal groove, u. Over the lower end of this groove u is placed a ring, x, while over the opposite end is tit ed a ring, y, which may be attached to and form part of the tubular cap m. In the groove u (when the pen is fitted for use in writing) is placed the piston-rod w, of metallic or other suitable material, one end passing under the ring the other being covered by the ring y, so that the said piston-rod is securely attached in place with its outer side practically flush with the external surface of the holder or reservoir A. In this position it is out of the way during the use of the pen in writing, and yet is readily available for use in repleuishing the holder or reservoir.

In order to transfer the piston-rod to the side of the holder, as just explained, or vice versa, it is, of course, necessary to first detach the cap m, for which purpose the said cap is made to screw upon the holder, as represented in the drawings.

It is to be observed that where the rings y lap over the ends of the pistonrod w, when the same is placed in the groove, as hereinbefore explained, they serve simply as lips, and confine the ends of the said piston-rodin place, and that when desired these rings maybe substituted by simple overlapping lips or projections, which, passing over the ends ofthe pistonrod u, hold the same in position in the` same manner as the rings, said lips being clear and plain equivalents of the rings, as herein described and claimed.

The operation of replenishing the reservoir is performed as follows: Upon one end of the piston-rod is formed a screw-thread, a', which screws into the threaded socketr of the pistonhead D, the external or closing cap B being of course first removed from the holder or reservoirA. The piston-rod being thus attached to the piston-head, the latter may be operated after the manner of a pump-piston, so that by inserting the outer extremity of the passage cinto the ink with which the holder or reservoir A is to be lled, and then drawing the IIO piston-head from the lower to the upper end of the holder or reservoir A, the latter is immediately filled, whereupon the piston-rod is detached from the piston-head and replaced having a longitudinal groove, u, and lip x, with the removable tubular cap m, provided with lip y and the piston-rod w, all substantially as and for the purpose within set forth.

4. The combination of the tubular holder A, the clamp B, for grping the pen, and the tubular cap fm, with the piston-head, composed of the stem s, having the lla-nge jl, the sliding block u', .having the ange g', and the indiarubber annulus or elastic packing h, placed between the flanges g'f, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

JOHN S. PURDY.

Witnesses:

CHAs. H. DOXAT, H. F. PARKER. 

